That's true, just seems like an opportunity that could have gone to better use. I'm not trying to insult de la Rosa but, I just think that he's past it.

But a development role is not one for an inexperienced driver... PDR will be using all his existing experience to feedback to Ferrari with. He'll know better what is going on and what to say to the team about his work in the simulator.

Also, it's not really a role where you have to be as fast as Alonso... Just consistent enough to produce accurate results that can help the team to develop the car properly...

I read somewhere once about test drivers not even needing to be particularly fast. A driver that is able to "drive around" problems, as some are supposedly able to do, has less value as a test driver than one who is very sensitive to change and is able to articulate those changes.

The media always seem to gush about PDLR's abilities as a test driver. It seems McLaren/Merc/Williams' loss is Ferrari's gain.

That's true, just seems like an opportunity that could have gone to better use. I'm not trying to insult de la Rosa but, I just think that he's past it.

I don't think many would disagree if it were a race seat. But the requirements placed on a development driver are very different. It doesn't matter if you're half a second slower than someone else, it's all down to how you feel and understand the cause and effect of developments, and how well you communicate that understanding. You also need to be able to take a proactive approach to finding solutions in the simulator, something a driver like Kobayashi doesn't seem to have the nature to do, and certainly doesn't have the experience for. And in this case, I suspect, how much experience you have of the legendary McLaren sim was pretty important. McLaren wanted him back for that reason alone, and Perez was also pushing to get him re-hired. Apparently dlR had his pick of the teams.

_________________I went skating on your name,And by tracing it twice,I fell through the ice,of Alice

I concede that for development purposes de la Rosa is a good bet. My reaction was a little rash since I thought of all the drivers who are losing their seats this year, would have loved to see someone else get the opportunity. With Gene in the team already, I expected a new face, someone who at least has a shot at a drive for Ferrari.

I concede that for development purposes de la Rosa is a good bet. My reaction was a little rash since I thought of all the drivers who are losing their seats this year, would have loved to see someone else get the opportunity. With Gene in the team already, I expected a new face, someone who at least has a shot at a drive for Ferrari.

I know what you mean. It seems to me that the testing ban is creating more problems than just the obvious one of rookies not getting enough time in the car. It's made experience extremely valuable, a good thing in some ways but it creates a blockage in the pipeline as the new generation of test drivers are passed over (due to relative inexperience) in favour of re-employing the last generation again.

But there's also been a fundamental change in the type of experience that's of value. de la Rosa may never test an F1 car for Ferrari, he will be a simulator driver. That in itself requires a specific set of talents in addition to those of a 'real' test driver, one that drivers in smaller teams will never get a chance to develop due to their sims being primitive or non-existant.

It's a viscious circle and, IMO, a great shame and a big problem. A rookie today will get very little pre and in-season testing, which means he has to compete without finding his feet, which means he may not impress or maximise his potential, which means he may get dropped. Once dropped he will be lacking the setup, race and (for many) simulator experience to be of any value as a test, reserve or 'development' (i.e. simulator) driver. It also means that what little testing a rookie does get to do has to be focused very narrowly. Usually a Friday is spent focusing on overcoming a specific problem for that specific track. There's no time for the broad grounding in the art of setting up and developing a car that is so important to developing a fully rounded F1 driver. Great shame.

Edit: All this also means even top teams like Ferrari and McLaren don't have a reserve driver you'd ever want to drop into a race weekend. It's far more important their backups can give feedback on a sim than drive an actual F1 car fast.

_________________I went skating on your name,And by tracing it twice,I fell through the ice,of Alice

A good choice. Glad he's sticking around in F1, even if it is back in a development role. He's got great experience with lots of different cars and is well known for providing great feedback on car development.

It'd be a very dumb move to put a rookie in that kind of role as they have no experience, and no idea how the car should be handling.

Can anyone explain the logic behind this?! There are so many younger and more talented drivers, Kobayashi for one springs to mind!

He has vast experience in testing car in both track and simulator. And for testing you don't need fast or talented driver. Talented driver can unwittingly work around some problems on track and still get decent lap times, while less talented driver will tell team that car is underivable and what is wrong with it.

I read somewhere once about test drivers not even needing to be particularly fast. A driver that is able to "drive around" problems, as some are supposedly able to do, has less value as a test driver than one who is very sensitive to change and is able to articulate those changes.

The media always seem to gush about PDLR's abilities as a test driver. It seems McLaren/Merc/Williams' loss is Ferrari's gain.

I read somewhere once about test drivers not even needing to be particularly fast. A driver that is able to "drive around" problems, as some are supposedly able to do, has less value as a test driver than one who is very sensitive to change and is able to articulate those changes.

The media always seem to gush about PDLR's abilities as a test driver. It seems McLaren/Merc/Williams' loss is Ferrari's gain.

This was said about Schumacher and Irvine at Ferrari.

There was a story about Schui testing a car and saying it was great. Eddie got in it and said the back end was solid.

the engineers went back, re done their maths and discovered they had made a boo boo when working out the angles and leverages meaning the back suspension was basically solid.

You don't get any points for winning any time trials in a simulator. Going as fast as Hamilton, or Alonso is irrelevant in setup and design, it's about discovering exactly what the car is doing, and working out the problems. For that, the best choice is an experienced driver who knows how to be part of the development team.

Additionally, if for any reason Massa or Alonso are unable to drive, at least they have a chance of filling their seats temporarily.

They have many choices in the immediate family for filling a seat in an emergency, and even more in the extended family. Probably has nothing to do with it. The work on the 2014 cars will be in higher gear this season than last, what could you want more than a driver with experience across many, many eras of regulations and an established testing work ethic? Perfect choice IMO, and I wouldn't be surprised if there was a bit of a fight over ol' Pedro. Ferrari is definitely where I would have gone too.

This is intresting to me because I was expecting Pedro to go back to Macca, but this seemed like to go to Ferrari with fellow countryman in Alonso and Gene.

A fantastic testing driver and I would guess he is there to attempt to help iron out any issues, but exactly how much can De La Rosa assist in the new Ferrari? Also, considering the new Ferrari will be fully developed in Cologne at Toyota's wind tunnel. I'm guessing issues maybe reduced compared to last season to stop the excuse of the wind tunnel needing to be "Calibrated".

This also may lead to more sponsorship for Ferrari because a lot of smaller sponsorships from HRT may follow Pedro to Ferrari. Honestly, how Ferrari is concerned about money though? Good signing though for Ferrari and a great man to sign in PDLR.

Oh, I also forgot about his previous expereince in testing the tires... This is going to be intresting to see how Ferrari will do with great test drivers in Gene and De La Rosa.

Fisi has been driving for AF Corse (works Ferrari team) in the WEC. He'll been in the AIM Motorsport entry at the Rolex 24 in a few weeks, and I assume the AF Corse car at Bathurst after that but not sure.

Test driving for Ferrari is a pretty good gig, plenty of stuff in the Ferrari road cars, PR rides for journalists etc, Corse Clienti days, lots of F1 car demos etc. They keep pretty busy, not just all day in the simulator.